Chapter 436: Injuries strike, winter window fails
Finally, with a long whistle from Oliver, the game ended.
With both coaches being dissatisfied with the game, Manchester United defeated Liverpool 3-1 at home!
Ling Feng and Ibrahimovic passed shots to each other and continued to show the world the power of the strongest combination in the Premier League.
It is worth mentioning that Ibrahimovic scored the 20th league goal of his Manchester United career in this game, becoming the first player to score 20 goals in the Premier League this season!
And he also surpassed Aguero, Alan Shearer, Torres, Kevin Phelps and other Premier League strikers with an astonishing speed of 20 goals in 19 games, becoming the fastest player to reach 20 goals in the Premier League.
This record also allowed Ibrahimovic to temporarily overtake Ling Feng and become the focus of the media.
The thirty-five-year-old Ibrahimovic also proved that he is still one of the best forwards on the planet with his 20 league goals!
After completing this record, Ibrahimovic also pretended to be cool on his personal social media:
"The fastest player to complete 20 goals in the Premier League? Interesting! The fastest record of 30 goals , it should be mine too!”
In addition to the still fierce performance of the "one-zero" combination, Lingard, who was once again selected into the Three Lions squad not long ago, also showed his excellent sense of touch in front of the goal and completed a follow-up shot.
This is also his fifth goal in the league this season!
This season, Lingard still plays the role of frontcourt rotation. With limited playing time, he has shown his plug-and-play super substitute attributes.
Every time he comes on as a substitute, he can quickly integrate into the rhythm of the team's frontcourt offense, and he always scores goals or assists.
Red Devils fans can clearly see that this "King of Dance" who likes to dance and celebrate after scoring goals, and his celebrations are never the same, has obviously scored more goals!
And being called up by the national team is the best proof!
Seeing the team now thriving and full of momentum, all the Red Devils stars and fans are very pleased.
Although in the past two seasons, Manchester United under Louis van Gaal has often had the upper hand against Liverpool.
However, the double defeat of Liverpool in the league is still of great significance to Manchester United fans.
What's more, this is only Mourinho's first season in charge of the Red Devils, and he has completed the achievement of "double killing of opponents in the league"!
Moreover, they scored the most goals in the half-season of the league, conceded the second fewest goals in the league, and ranked first in the league in average shooting chances per game
And Liverpool, as the team second only to Manchester United in terms of offensive firepower this season, actually did it at Old Trafford. Only one goal was scored at Ford Field.
And it was a penalty kick.
It can be seen from the statistics of the teams ranked at the top of the league that Mourinho has achieved initial success in transforming the team!
After the game, "Manwan" started playing immediately.
Big blow!
You know, since losing to Chelsea in the ninth round, Manchester United has achieved an astonishing twelve games unbeaten in the league!
Had it not been for the lineup rotation and an upset draw by West Brom, they would have reached an astonishing record of twelve consecutive wins.
Even so, the terrible record of 21 games, 19 wins, one draw and one loss still made the media and fans exclaim:
The Red Devils that made the entire Premier League tremble, Already back!
Who can resist this Manchester United? !
This question quickly became a hot topic and became a hot topic among major media and football experts.
So far, Manchester United has almost maintained a winning record in head-to-head confrontations with the other five BIG league giants!
The only thing they lost in the league was the strongest opponent in the league championship - "Blues Chelsea"
Under Conte's 343 formation, Chelsea The dominance in the Premier League is no less than that of Manchester United!
A wave of 13 consecutive league wins, closely following Manchester United's butt, not allowing them to widen the gap.
For a time, under the momentum and hype of the media, Chelsea, which has been fighting alone this season and showing amazing combat effectiveness, has become the demon-slayer hero that the other 18 Premier League teams and many Manchester United scoundrels have placed their hopes on. !
Many media and celebrities have even made predictions that the second round showdown between the two sides in mid-April may become a key battle to determine the league championship!
Of course, before that, Chelsea must continue to catch up with Manchester United in front of them in the standings and put pressure on them.
Then I hope that the latter will make mistakes and lose points, thus narrowing the points gap between them.
After all, in the first league game in 2017, their thirteen-game winning streak was ended by Tottenham.
The points gap between them and Manchester United has been widened by another three points.
If you don’t work hard to catch up, you will only be pulled further and further away by Manchester United!
Of course, the Football Association does not want the suspense of the league title to end so early.
However, because it was so obvious last time, Manchester United directly asked
What's more, even if they blow the whistle, most teams in the league will not be able to defeat the current Red Devils with high morale and strength.
They can't give three penalty kicks to Manchester United's opponents in one game.
Can it?
Should, maybe not
Of course, they don't need to be so blatant. Just being slightly biased towards Manchester United's opponents in a strong matchup is enough to change the direction of the game!
Therefore, after holding a meeting to discuss the matter, the Football Association also planned to sit on the sidelines.
Anyway, in the next February, Manchester United will participate in the League Cup final and the Champions League knockout round. It is inevitable to be distracted and may fall off the chain.
As for the performance of Premier League teams in the Champions League, it has never been considered by the Football Association.
The Champions League is a competition organized by UEFA, what does it have to do with the FA? !
From the fact that there is no winter break every year and the schedule of the Champions League teams, we can know that the Football Association does not care about the life and death of the Premier League teams outside.
They only care about whether the Premier League games are exciting or not and whether the script is good or not.
The Premier League matches, the domestic cup schedule, and the fierce competition between clubs have had a huge impact on the players of the Premier League teams.
Playing in the Premier League is definitely more tiring than other leagues.
Especially the Christmas schedule, which is a means to ensure ratings and attractiveness, makes it impossible for Premier League players to get enough rest time, cannot maintain their physical fitness and competitive condition at their best, and naturally cannot compete in the European war. force.
This is also an important reason why Premier League teams have lacked competitiveness in European competitions in the past few years.
In the past four seasons, the only Premier League teams that have reached the semi-finals of the Champions League are Manchester City in the 15-16 season and Chelsea in the 13-14 season.
The 2014-15 season was the worst. No team in the Premier League reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League!
Under the background of attaching importance to the commercial development of the league, the Premier League team has unknowingly not won the Champions League, the club's highest competition, for four years.
In the past four years, La Liga has won the championship three times!
This is also the reason why the Premier League, which is touted as the "first league in the world", has been repeatedly ridiculed by La Liga fans as just "a mess".
However, Manchester United hired Mourinho with a high salary and spent nearly 200 million to introduce strong reinforcements. Of course, it was not just to return to the top of the league.
Of course they hope to make a difference in the Champions League!
The generous bonuses and exposure brought by the Champions League will definitely allow the team's stock price to continue to rise.
Especially after seeing Manchester United's outstanding performance in the first half of the season, it also made the top management of Manchester United who do not understand football think that Manchester United has completed its revival!
Therefore, in the high-level meeting in the middle of the season, the satisfied club leader "Sandezi" also clearly proposed to Mourinho that the club's Champions League goal this season is the semi-finals! Faced with this goal from the club's senior management, Mourinho just frowned and gave an ambiguous answer:
“I will do my best, and the team will do its best too!”
. . .
January 21st.
After defeating Stoke City on the banks of the River Trent, Manchester United continued to improve their unbeaten record in the league to thirteen games.
However, the tight schedule and high-intensity competition finally caused injuries!
Ibrahimovic, the team's top scorer and the league's top scorer, strained a muscle during a confrontation with his opponent.
After the post-match examination, it was found that the hamstring muscle was injured and he had to rest for at least four weeks!
Fortunately, Ibrahimovic should be able to make it to the first leg of the Champions League knockout rounds next month.
Nothing is the same.
Just a few days later, in the second leg of the League Cup semi-finals, although Manchester United finally defeated their opponents by one goal, they advanced to the League Cup final with a total score of 2-0.
However, the price paid was to lose another general!
While the opponent's forward was pressing high, Smalling's toe was severely stepped on.
Although in the end I still insisted on playing the whole game.
But after the game, he was diagnosed with a bone fracture in the toe of his right foot.
A month's truce!
The sudden loss of two main players of the team made Mourinho very angry. Then at the post-match press conference, in front of many media, he directly criticized the referee's penalty scale:< br>
“I don’t know why? My players have to suffer such treatment!”
“Those rough movements, are they playing football?”
“I Don’t say too much, I will only get myself into trouble”
You know, Mourinho has made full use of the rotation strategy this season to keep the team's injuries under control.
Half a season has passed, and almost no players have suffered serious injuries that lasted for several months.
However, they still did not escape the high incidence of injuries after the Christmas schedule.
Moreover, every team that plays against Manchester United acts very roughly and fiercely.
Especially as the player who has been violated the most in the league, Ling Feng’s jersey is covered in grass clippings in almost every game.
Fortunately, the Football Association also knew the importance of Ling Feng to the Three Lions, and specifically told the referees to be stricter on his fouls, so as not to let those reckless men hurt the British number one.
But other Manchester United players do not receive this kind of treatment
As the team's main central defender, Smalling's central defender combination with Bailly this season is relatively stable in the league. .
However, with Smalling injured and Bailly still participating in the African Cup, this central defender combination that had been used for half a season fell apart in an instant!
Mourinho not only has to select two suitable candidates to replace them, but the entire defensive system will also change accordingly.
Fortunately, none of the league opponents in the next month are too strong.
However, it is unknown whether Smalling can catch up with the Champions League knockout rounds a month later and what his condition will be after recovering from injury.
If Smalling cannot play, who should be used to replace him.
These are one of the many questions that Mourinho has to think about.
Of course, everyone has to pay a price for their behavior.
Mourinho was once again fined by the Football Association for criticizing the referee's penalty after the game.
One match ban and tens of thousands of pounds in fines!
Of course, for the wealthy Manchester United, this is nothing at all.
However, Manchester United's senior management still privately asked Mourinho to pay attention to his words in front of the media.
In this regard, Mourinho, who likes to fight with the media, disagrees in his heart.
I can say whatever I want on horseback!
. . .
As winter gets colder, the Premier League’s winter window also makes people feel less passionate.
Throughout the winter window, league giants like Manchester United, Chelsea, and Manchester City basically did not spend money on signings, and the magnificent storm that was expected on the deadline day did not appear.
Even according to statistics from the "Transfer Market" website, the net income of each Premier League team in this winter window is actually positive!
You know, the last time the Premier League made a net profit in the winter window, it was 20 years ago!
On the one hand, the major Premier League giants seem to be very satisfied with the team's current lineup and have not made any signings.
Even Chelsea, which always likes to cause trouble in the winter window, has not made any signings.
Instead, two generals, Oscar and Mikel, were sent to the Chinese Super League, which opened the Jinyuan era, and made a lot of money.
On the one hand, they are also afraid of buying parallel imports.
The top bidder in this Premier League winter window is actually the Brazilian forward Jesus who joined Manchester City from Palmeiras in a deal that Manchester City made in the summer for 27 million pounds!
You can imagine how peaceful this winter window is.
As the top team in the Premier League, Manchester United’s only two transactions in the winter window were to acquire Schneider. Lin was sold to Everton and then loaned out youth goalkeeper Johnstone.
Due to the slow progress of the transfer department and the lack of willingness of the target players to transfer, Manchester United failed to win either the first choice winter window target Van Dijk or the second target Lindelof.
Not even one of the substitute centers and substitute wingers on the list has entered the final negotiation stage!
Such signing ability made Mourinho complain directly to his assistant in private:
“This is a failed winter window!”
Although no players were introduced in the winter window .
However, with Manchester United's current lineup structure and morale, it still ranks first in the odds of winning the league.
Even the media and fans are wondering whether this Manchester United can win the championship early.
On the day when the team closed the winter window, the Red Devils also used a 3-0 victory at home to show all their opponents what it means to be at the top of the league!
It is worth mentioning that during the post-match interview, Ling Feng suddenly reacted after being reminded by the reporter.
He will return to the King Power Stadium in the next round of the league!
(End of this chapter)